Best Damn Cardio Humanly Possible in 15 Minutes

In case you haven't checked in lately, Arnold's 1% Challenge, to spend literally 1% of your day (15 minutes) on fitness has continued to grow on Fitocracy. Now, there are 5 routines to choose from and thousands participating. The latest routine is a cardio routine by Dr. Layne Norton. He calls it the best cardio routine humanly possible. You can find it here but we asked him to share the science behind the workout. Here he is.

By Layne Norton

Cardio sucks. There I said it. Anyone who tells you they enjoy cardio either
is lying or needs to have their head examined.
When Arnold was interviewed in pumping iron he was quoted as saying he
loved the pump he got from weight training so much that it was similar to...
well there might be kids reading this so I'll keep it PG rated. But he likened it to a very pleasurable
experience. I've never heard anyone say
such nice things about cardio. Cardio is
a means to an end. Most people in the
gym aren't slaving away on the treadmill, elliptical, bike, or stepmill because
they care about their VO2 Max or improving their endurance capacity. They are doing it because they want to lose
fat and look better. So what is optimal
cardio? This was the question on my mind
when I was challenged with coming up with the best cardio workout that you can
do in 15 minutes!

The first step is we have to define what makes a cardio workout 'good.' If we want to improve body composition we
know that weight lifting is king.
Period. Cardio on its own, really
ain't gonna cut it. We want a form of
cardio that 1) maxes fat burning for our time involvement, 2) retains maximum
muscle, and 3) retains maximum gym performance. This is combining of cardio and
weight training is called concurrent training.
Concurrent training has been studied quite a bit. While concurrent training has been shown to
be superior to endurance training alone for enhancing muscle mass and strength
(duh), it has been shown to significantly hamper optimal strength and
hypertrophy when compared to weight training alone. Several studies have
demonstrated that optimal gains in muscle mass and strength are obtained by
strength training alone compared to combining strength training with endurance
training (1). However, a recent review of the scientific literature on
concurrent training conducted by Dr. Jacob Wilson of the University of Tampa
and several of his colleagues identified some interesting variables that can
affect the way in which your cardio training affects your strength,
hypertrophy, and body composition responses to resistance training.

The first variable that was examined was the type of cardio training.
What he found may shock you. The type of cardio performed made a HUGE
difference in terms of proper strength and hypertrophy development in response
to resistance training. Endurance running or walking impaired strength
and muscle growth significantly more than cycling (1). This is also in
accordance with a study that compared cycling with incline walking on a
treadmill and found that cycling was significantly better for achieving
hypertrophy when combined with resistance training compared to incline
treadmill walking (2). The researchers concluded that the differences
observed here were likely due to the fact cycling requires more hip flexion and
multi-joint activation of muscles involved in exercises like squats and leg
presses compared to endurance running and walking which are not similar
movements to any leg exercises that produce muscular hypertrophy.
Additionally, while long distance running and walking result in strength and
hypertrophy decrements, sprinting does not, most likely due to the fact that
sprinting requires significant hip flexion and is more similar to multi-joint
leg exercises.

The other major variables the researchers examined were the intensity and
duration of cardio work and how it affects strength and hypertrophy when
combined with resistance training. They essentially demonstrated that the
longer the bout of cardio was, the greater the impairment of strength and
hypertrophy. Interestingly, they found that short, high intensity bouts
of cardio like repeated sprinting or cycling had no negative impact on strength
and hypertrophy development. This is most likely because high intensity
sprinting or cycling causes your muscles to make high velocity contractions,
activating fast twitch muscle fibers compared to endurance cardio work which
most likely will not activate the large fast twitch muscle fibers.

Perhaps even more interesting was that further analysis of the literature on
cardio demonstrated that not only was short duration, high intensity cardio
better for strength and hypertrophy, it was also superior for fat loss
(1). This is in agreement with data from Peter Lemon's lab which found
that people who performed four to six 30 second sprints lost twice as much bodyfat
as people who performed low intensity cardio for 30-60 minutes.

When we look at these results as a whole, we know that cycling is better
than walking or running for maintaining muscle and strength, and high intensity
intervals are better for fat burning. So
why not combine the two? I spoke with
Dr. Wilson about the protocol their lab recommends. They have the subject go at
a low intensity until they are warmed up and ready, then pedal as hard as they
can with no resistance until they are up to max speed, then rapidly add
resistance for the next 20-30 seconds. They then repeat this protocol several
times. As someone who has done this, let
me tell you it is absolutely brutal and leaves you with a pump in your quads
you have probably never felt before. But make sure you have a bucket nearby
because if you do these right, you might need it in order to get rid of your
lunch rapidly ascending up your esophagus.
The cardio routine here mimics this protocol on a stationary bike that
you can find in almost any gym. This
workout is fast, effective, brutal, and backed by scientific research.

Layne Norton is a coach, bodybuilder, powerlifter, and scientist who is interested in how to optimize results through nutrition, training, and supplementation. He is a pro natural bodybuilder with the IFPA and NGA and has been competing for a decade in drug-tested bodybuilding organizations. He is also pro powerlifter who has achieved Raw Elite status. He also has a PhD in nutritional sciences with his specific expertise being muscle protein and amino acid metabolism. He is involved in research as a consultant for several universities and Scivation.